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At least that might explain why for today's visit to 'Treehouse' - part of the East Anglia's Children's Hospices in Ipswich - Kate had to rely on family ties to help pull her look together. Step forward Carole Middleton who kindly loaned Kate the belted royal blue shirtdress she debuted at Ascot in 2010.

You've got to hand it to Carole, not many 30-year-olds would be seen dead in their mother's cast-offs. But then Carole does have an eye for fashion, and a youthful one at that - it's no coincidence that she is now the benchmark for mother-of-the-bride dressing.

And it's not the first time that Kate has raided her mum's wardrobe either. Hawk-eyed Kate watchers will know that the raspberry lace Colette Dinnigan dress she wore to a friend's wedding last September was first seen on Carole at the opening of the 2009 Royal Academy Summer Exhibition; while the fascinator Carole teamed with today's blue dress, was recycled by Kate for the wedding of Nicholas van Cutsem.

Kate wearing her mum's fascinator to the wedding of Nicholas van Cutsem in 2011, and Carole wearing it at Ascot in 2010.
PHOTOS: REX/Camerapress